喜樂美語

核心畫面

One way to hold prevailing: several forces are pushing against each other, and one of them is winning. Because it is winning, it is what you meet everywhere you turn in that place, at that time. That is why the word says more than common — it says on top, right now. And a force that is on top today can lose tomorrow, so the word always has a date stamp on it.

「prevailing」的核心畫面可以想成：好幾股力量在拉鋸，其中一股贏了。因為它贏了，所以你在那個地方、那個時候，…更多收起「prevailing」的核心畫面可以想成：好幾股力量在拉鋸，其中一股贏了。因為它贏了，所以你在那個地方、那個時候，走到哪裡碰到的都是它。這就是為什麼它不只是「常見」，還帶著「壓過別人、現在當家」的味道。也因為是「現在當家」，它身上永遠貼著時間標籤：今天贏，不保證明天還贏。

From the word’s history

Wiktionary analyses prevailing as prevail + -ing.

來源資料把 prevailing 拆成 prevail 加 -ing，所以字面上就是「正在勝出的」。

Wiktionary entry for 'prevailing' (kaikki extract, source_ref kaikki:3f6f69a190036ae4:1204409839): 'By surface analysis, prevail + -ing.'

One branch

當下佔上風的那一個

兩個用法都在講「贏過其他選項、於是到處都是它」，差別只在贏的是想法還是風。

adjective · B2

Existing, or accepted by most people, in a particular place or at a particular time. It describes the mood, opinion, style or conditions that are strongest and most common just then.

普遍的／主流的

原始詞典資料3 筆記錄

以下是外部詞典記錄的用法，原文照列，我們還沒有寫成教學內容。上面的說明才是我們自己寫的；有些用法可能上面已經講過了。

prevailingadj/pɹɪˈveɪ.lɪŋ/

  • 1

    Predominant; of greatest force.

    • The prevailing opinion was for additional planning time.
    • He has a Humour more prevailing than his Curioſity, and will willingly diſpence with the hearing of one ſcandalous Story, to avoid giving an occaſion to make another, by being ſeen to walk with his Wife.
  • 2

    Prevalent, common, widespread.

    • Fever and dysentery are the most prevailing diseases in this division, more particularly the latter, which is one of the most destructive amongst the troops in India, and particularly so in the European constitution.
    • One of the most prevailing defects in this people is their invincible indolence, and hatred of labour, which has, at all times, paralysed the government of their best princes, and impeded the success of their most brilliant enterprises.

這個拼法也被記錄為下列字的變化形：

資料來源：英文維基詞典 English Wiktionary（CC BY-SA 4.0）。 原文照列，未經改寫。